Return From RITA

We have returned from RITA. Every club boat that participated left and returned from Florida at a different time.  Each boat had a different experience crossing the Gulf Stream.  All involved a fair amount of motoring or motor-sailing due to no winds or unfavorable winds. We left my house at 0330.  The reason I choose that time is so that by the time I get out of range of the city lights of Ft Lauderdale the sun is coming up. Thus always giving us a clear horizon and some night visibility. AIS was quite handy. There was a fair amount of shipping traffic in the middle of the Gulf Stream.  After clearing in at West End we spent our first night at Mangrove Cay. Notes on clearing in: 1) local knowledge says West End is the best place, 2) Click to Clear is good for customs but not immigration apparently. Be prepared to fill out immigration forms for your crew and yet again on a crew manifest even though you have already submitted this info. After another long day we spent our second night at Green Turtle. And finally on to Marsh Harbor in a few hours on the third day. In Marsh Harbor we enjoyed Snappas and Colors for meals and revelry.  At the skipper's meeting we were given an enormous swag bag with a case of beer, a bottle of rum, hats, snacks, coosies, towels, sunscreen, and the list goes on. Then on Saturday the racing began with a race to Hope Town. The race was a large "Z" pattern. The after race party and dinner was at the Hope Town Inn. Mount Gay Rum and Sands beer were event sponsors and provided free drinks at all the parties. The next day was a race to Great Guana. The after race was at Grabbers. Excellent menu there. The next day was a lay day with a party at Nippers and then the following day was a large buoy race large off of Great Guana.  Each day the races started at 1105. There was 10 minutes between each of the three groups so our start was always 1125 which was closer to the no wind hour. Each race was characterized by dying winds, followed by building winds, and then the  obligatory rain storm. The race committee got tired of waiting for us on several occasions. At this point we had captured third place (out of three boats in our category) for the first three races. Race four would prove to be one for the record books. Race four was a pursuit race from Great Guana to Green Turtle.  Every boat had a very specific start time based on their rating. Due to the lack of wind everyone was struggling to get started. Our start was late in the list but the line was jammed full of boats still trying to get underway. We could not get through and turned away. At that point the wind died. Eventually all the boats crossed the start line except us. 45 minutes after our start time we were still adrift just behind the line. The race committee gave up on us and wished us luck as they picked up the start mark and headed to set up the finish line. Finally a couple of knots of breeze showed up and we began to move. Most of the fleet had chased whatever wind they could find off to the west but we were now slowly making way on a direct line to the finish. The only rule that day was to keep Whale Cay to port. The wind direction finally stabilized and we put up the spinnaker. Our speed slowly increased to 5.5 knots. Woo Hoo! We started passing people. (Some had even  stopped to swim.) After Whale Cay the obligatory afternoon rain storm encroached on the race course. Having witnessed these storms every afternoon for almost a week we had a good sense of what we were in for.  These storms were fast moving and short in duration so we decided to ride it out. Apparently the view from outside the storm was more spectacular than it was to us. To us we had heavy rain and the winds gradually increased to the upper 20s but remained steady in their direction. The boat topped out at 13.7 Kts. It lasted about 3-4 minutes. Then everything was normal again. What everyone else saw was gusting and shifting winds. And our boat disappearing from view into the rain shaft of the storm only to emerge from the other side with the spinnaker still flying, and we were now even with the overall second place boat. The committee boat was shocked to see us in front of the fleet at the finish. We were third overall and first in our class. It was certainly the high note of our trip. The following day on Green Turtle we had a lay day.  We enjoyed a great meal at the Wrecking Tree followed by a pub crawl to raise funds for local youth programs. The last day was a large buoy race off of Green Turtle. We got another third place. Not complaining though. There are so many more stories to tell of this event that they could not all be included here.  Larry, Jim, and Eduardo each have their own stories to tell. The overall conclusion is that this is not an event to be missed. You will definitely come away with your own stories to tell. We are already making plans to return next year.

The official website is RegattasInTheAbacos.com.  But there are great photos, videos, race results and comments on their Facebook page; Regattas in the Abacos.